The Husson softball team pounded out 14 hits and cruised to a 10-1 mercy ruled six inning victory over rival Thomas College at the North Atlantic Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Oneonta, New York. The Eagles were the first to advance to the championship round on Sunday, as they seek their seventh straight league title when they take on the host school SUNY Cobleskill.
The Eagles poured it in on early by scoring five times in the third inning to take control. Bulla McCabe had a two-run single, Julia Gregiore (Massabesic) an RBI single, and Lexi Volinsky (Noble) added the second two-run single of the frame. Husson put four more on the board in the sixth inning to end it by the run rule as Gregiore smacked an RBI double, Volinsky had a two-run double, and Lyndsee Reed (Hermon) contributed an RBI single. Camryn King (Nokomis), Kiara McLeod (Oxford Hills), Morgan Tainter, Gregiore, Volinsky, and Reed all had two hits a piece. Volinsky drove in four and McCabe had three RBI. Sky Johnson (14-3) pitched all 6.0 innings to earn her second victory in as many tries in the tournament in the circle allowing one unearned run on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Megan Oberholzer had two hits for Thomas College, and also took the pitching loss giving up 10 runs (seven earned) on 14 hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 6.0 innings. The #3 Terriers were knocked out of the tournament later on Saturday and finished the season with a record of 17-20.
#1 seed Husson (26-10) will square off with the host #2 SUNY Cobleskill (22-11-1) on Sunday in the championship round that will be played at SUNY Oneonta beginning at 1 p.m. The Eagles need one win to capture the title. The Fighting Tigers need to win game one, and if they do a game two winner take all would follow 30 minutes later. SUNY Cobleskill rallied from a 7-1 deficit to defeat Thomas College 8-7 in an elimination game on Saturday evening. The NAC Tournament was moved back a day on Friday due to rain and field conditions at Cobleskill, which also changed the location for the remainder of the league postseason.
